Maja Åskag smashed her lifetime best in the long jump for the second time in the space of four days at the Folksam Grand Prix in Karlstad, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, on Wednesday (8) evening.
Having jumped 6.80m in the Eugene Diamond League on Saturday afternoon, Åskag didn’t show any visible signs of fatigue from a long journey back across the Atlantic as she bounded out to 6.87m in the second round before improving again to 6.89m in the third round.
"I thought the jump of 6.87m was so-so, so I was a little shocked that it was that far. It's fantastic but there's more. I lost my feet a little on the landing. But I have nothing to complain about today. I feel very good and just try to enjoy and have fun," said Askag.
With the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham just over a month away, Åskag climbs to fourth on the 2026 European list which is led by Larissa Iapichino’s Italian record of 7.12m in Eugene on Saturday.
Like Iapichino, Åskag is also a former European U20 champion. In fact, Åskag swept both the long jump and triple jump titles at the 2021 European and World U20 Championships but the 23-year-old is yet to climb onto the podium in a major senior championships.
Behind Askag, Great Britain’s 2023 European indoor champion Jazmin Sawyers leapt out to a season’s best of 6.80m in the fifth round.
Bengström wins Swedish 400m hurdles showdown
Carl Bengström closed the programme with a hard-fought victory in the men’s 400m hurdles over his compatriot Oskar Edlund.
The pair were evenly matched coming off the final barrier with Bengström’s superior flat speed proving decisive. The 2024 European bronze medallist stopped the clock at 48.11 - the second fastest time of his career - with Edlund rewarded with a lifetime best of 48.26.
There were also lifetime bests for Brits Jake Minshull and Sam Lunt who clocked 48.53 and 49.17 to finish third and fourth respectively. For Minshull, his time was also a British U23 record.
Bengström’s victory continued the string of Swedish successes throughout the evening in Karlstad. Other notable victories came from Vanessa Kamga who improved her stadium record to 63.44m in the discus and from Fanny Roos who won the shot put with a best mark of 18.75m.
However, three-time world champion Daniel Stahl had to settle for second in the men’s discus behind the in-form European champion Kristjan Ceh from Slovenia.
Both men only produced one valid throw throughout their respective series but Ceh’s effort of 67.43m in the second round bested Ståhl’s fifth round mark of 66.86m.
In the women's 1500m, Türkiye's Silan Ayyaldiz timed her finish to perfection to win in 4:06.87 ahead of Great Britain's Tia Wilson in 4:07.04 with 19-year-old Swede Carmen Cernjul, who won two medals at the 2025 European Athletics U20 Championships, third in a Swedish U20 record of 4:07.08 which broke a mark which had stood since 1973.
"I knew before that I am in good shape in 1500 meters, even though I haven't had the real meet yet. It was there, I just needed to get the right race and it was fun that it happened today. I was a little worried about the wind and the conditions, but I was able to stay behind and with 300 meters left I felt that I would go for it today," said Cernjul.
Photos courtesy of Filip Lööv / Swedish Athletics